FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The Maritime men's lacrosse team picked up a key Skyline Conference win on Saturday afternoon as the Privateers downed the Farmingdale Rams by the score of 10-6 on Long Island.
 
The win was the first Privateer victory over the Rams since the 2008 season, as the win gives Maritime control of its own playoff destiny heading into the final week of the regular season.
 
Maritime now sits alone in third place in the league with a 3-2 Skyline Conference record, with its final game upcoming against Mount St. Mary at home next Saturday. A win against the Knights clinches the second seed in the Skyline Conference Championship.
 
Senior Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) and freshman Matt DeMeo (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) led the Privateers with four goals apiece, while senior Brett Trodden (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) and sophomore Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) each had one goal. Freshman Bryan Keegan (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North) led the Privateers with three assists, while Connell, Trodden, and senior Ian Danahy (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) also had assists.
 
Defensively, Keegan led Maritime alongside sophomore Mark Buchner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh), as the pair forced three caused turnovers apiece. Connell and senior T.J. Ragusa (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) each forced two caused turnovers. Ragusa was 5-of-16 on faceoff attempts, while freshman Joey Manno (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) was 0-for-2 on his attempts.
 
In goal senior Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) made 14 stops as he registered his eighth win of the season and 25th victory of his career.
 
The game was evenly matched through the first 30 minutes of play as the Privateers and Rams were tied at four at the break. However, the Privateers outworked the Rams for a 6-2 advantage in the second half including a key 4-0 goal differential in the third quarter.
 
Pellegrino and DeMeo opened the scoring with goals in the middle stages of the opening quarter, Farmingdale scored its first late in the period to trim the lead to 2-1.
 
In the second period Pellegrino opened the scoring off a feed from Keegan to give the Privateers a two-goal lead once again. Nine seconds later the Rams scored again to keep the score at one goal.
 
Connell netted his 30th of the season with 9:02 left in the second but Farmingdale closed out the half on a 2-0 run to even the score at four heading into halftime.
 
The third quarter was key as Pellegrino notched his 30th goal of the season just 47 seconds into the period off a quick feed from Danahy. DeMeo scored the next two goals including his 30th of the year to give Maritime a 7-4 lead. Pellegrino notched his fourth goal of the game with 28 seconds left to give Maritime its largest lead of the game at 8-4.
 
The Privateers extended their lead to five as DeMeo opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with 9:28 left in regulation. Farmingdale scored in the next minute, but Maritime answered again as Trodden scored off a pass from Connell with 7:39 left in the game.

Farmingdale scored just over a minute after Trodden's goal, but it was not enough. The Rams had a two-man advantage at one point, but the Privateer man-down defense stood strong in the final stages of the game as Maritime hung on for the 10-6 victory.
 
Maritime (9-4, 3-2 Skyline) will look for its first 10-win season since 2008 on Saturday, when the Privateers host the Mount St. Mary Knights on Reinhart Field beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Farmingdale (8-7, 2-3 Skyline) will visit non-conference Kean on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. before closing out the regular season with Mount St. Vincent on Saturday afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m.